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Andrew Hoy

by Brittany from Warragul, Australia

Olympics Hero
Andrew Hoy (geocities.com)
Andrew Hoy (geocities.com)

Andrew Lewis Hoy is most definitely a hero to all who are involved in the equestrian world. He has been a professional Olympic eventer for six years now and has taken home 3 gold medals. Eventing isn’t an easy discipline. It involves a formal dressage test, a cross-country course and a show jumping round. Andrew also travels the world just to compete in 3-day events. Only a hero could do that.

At Barcelona in 1992 Andrew won the crowd's attention with his fantastic show jumping round where he took the gold. At Atlanta, it was his cross-country course that gave him gold. The Sydney Olympics were Andrew's best ever with an Olympic gold win. His dressage test with his winning horse ‘Darien Powers’ got them a score of 30.60, the best ever score recorded for that particular test. That score is something only a hero could achieve. At Athens Andrew fell off in the cross-country course but he got back on and kept on riding. Not many people would do that.

Andrew Hoy jumping Master Monarch (badminton-horse.co.uk)
Andrew Hoy jumping Master Monarch (badminton-horse.co.uk)

Eventing at the Olympic games isn’t easy. It involves a dressage test that will contain flying changes, pirouettes, working trots, extended trots, medium canters, extended canters and hand gallops. All of those are movements that take a lot of work and time to actually train your horse to do. The cross-country course, Andrew’s specialty, involves going in a flat out gallop, going over different types of jumps such as water jumps, picnic tables and sometimes even jumping over cars and also going through creeks. Then there’s show jumping. To be a good show jumping pair, the horse must be able to do a fast clear round and not knock any poles off the cups. It is an involved discipline and Andrew does very well with this sport. Taking home Olympic medals is a great achievement for Andrew.

Andrew Hoy walking the course (rk3de.org)
Andrew Hoy walking the course (rk3de.org)

In 1979 Andrew Hoy took his pony club horse ‘Davey’ all the way to the UK to compete and won Burghley. That was a great achievement considering that Andrew and his horse weren’t even picked for the state champion pony club team. At the Seoul Olympics Andrew rode a horse called Kiwi and gained a team 5th place; they went on to win best individual performance of eight. At the WEG Jerez 2002, Andrew and his Horse ‘Moonfleet’ finished 9th after dressage but had some troubles with a fence in the cross-country course, therefore bringing their team down.

Andrew has achieved so much for himself and his country. He has travelled the world, going to all different 3-day events and has always gone home with a good place and is always happy after every ride. He has been to 6 Olympics, taking 3 gold medals home. He has achieved so well with his eventing discipline and has also achieved great goals towards his career. I most definitely believe that Andrew Lewis Hoy is a well-respected hero.

Page created on 8/7/2008 9:51:25 AM

Last edited 8/7/2008 9:51:25 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

Andrew Hoy - The Hoy Team website.